The Class Notes section of Alumni News & Notes is in development. We hope to bring this feature to you in the online edition of the Summer 2003 issue.

Let your fellow UConn alumni know about the milestones in your life. You can keep them up to date by sending information, and, if possible, a photograph, to Alumni News & Notes, University of Connecticut Alumni Association, Alumni Drive, Storrs, CT 06269; by fax to 860-486-2849; or by e-mail to alumni-news@uconn.edu

Helping others by the million
As Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Gwendolyn Long Harris '72 (CLAS) is responsible for a budget of more than $8.3 billion and a staff of about 19,000 employees. Her department provides social services for more than a million state residents and administers, including welfare and Medicaid programs.

Harris must keep a broad perspective on overarching issues and policies. Yet she also seeks personal contact with the people who implement and benefit from the department's many programs and services. Though she's only been on the job since May, Harris has been to nearly all the department's 16 residential and treatment facilities. She recalls with particular sentiment a recent visit to a camp where siblings living in different foster homes are reunited.

Harris says that the size and scope of the department's purview can present a daunting challenge: "It's like trying to steer a big ship in the ocean. It's impossible to turn quickly. It's a process." On the other hand, the rewards are equally large-scale. She says, "It's just fantastic to know that we can touch a lot of peoples' lives in a very positive way."

Harris began her career as a social worker and has since gained a wealth of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. When she was appointed commissioner of the state's largest department, she became the first African American to hold the post. "Being the first to do something carries with it an awesome responsibility," she says, but it's one with which she is completely comfortable. "Probably the better part of my life I've been the first African American female something or another," she says. "It's not the first time I've been the first."

She notes that in the late 1960s and early 1970s when she attended UConn, there were only about 200 African American students on campus. It is one of the reasons why she considers her alma mater "a place where I honed my leadership skills." In particular, she "had the honor, the privilege and the excitement" of representing the views of African American students, often in meetings with then-President Homer Babbidge. "I really came to admire and respect him," she says.

Harris, who is currently pursuing a doctorate in urban planning and policy development, says her ultimate goal is to share her education and practical experience as a university professor.
-- Leslie Virostek

Keeping Jaguars healthy
Mike Ryan '88 (SAH) is a firm believer in the power of setting goals. As an undergraduate, he knew the exact career path he wanted to follow and he pursued it with zeal.

While completing his degree in physical therapy, Ryan interned at a number of hospitals and with several athletic teams. With aspirations to become a first-class athletic trainer, he steadily carved out a niche for himself, working at summer camps with the New York Giants football team.

"My objective was to work in the NFL full time," Ryan recalls. Indeed, upon graduation, he realized his dream when he accepted a position as assistant athletic trainer and physical therapist with the Giants.

In 1994, Ryan was recruited by the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars team to become their head athletic trainer and physical therapist. "The stadium was just a hole in the ground--literally--when I arrived," he says.

Four years later, Ryan hired Joe Sheehan '97 (ED), another UConn alumnus, to be his assistant. Like Ryan, Sheehan had pursued an interest in professional sports as a summer intern, working with the Jaguars organization. And last summer, yet another UConn alumnus, James Fernandes '02 (ED), completed an internship in Ryan's organization.

"As an alumnus, I welcome the opportunity to hire people from UConn," Ryan says. "UConn's athletic training program has done a wonderful job of preparing people for the professional environment."

In addition to Ryan and Sheehan, UConn has another connection to the Jaguars organization. Professor Doug Casa '97 Ph.D., UConn's director of athletic training education, has consulted with the Jaguars on the issue of heat physiology and hydration, a matter of increased concern throughout the NFL since Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer died of heat stroke in 2001.

UConn's athletic training program is part of the department of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education. Growing in both popularity and prestige, it graduates about a dozen students each year, many of whom have gone on to careers in professional sports.
-- Jim H. Smith

In Memoriam

ALUMNI
Fennell P. Atwater
Patricia A. (Kane) Bishop '79 M.A.
Hugh S. Campbell '37
Joan l. (Saglio) Chzaszcz '76
Constance C. Emerson '65
Jeffrey Scott Gall '86 Ph.D.
William Grey '54
Robert W. Groat '30
Dale Harned '54
Wendell F. Hawkins '56
William Hinman '88
Henry A. Klipp '50
Edward J. Krause, Jr. '41
Edward Paul Lazur '78
Michael J. Lombardo '51, '61 M.A., '73 J.D.
Edwin G. Olzinski '71
John Peslak, Jr. '69 M.S., '71 Ph.D.
David Rosenzweig '77 M.A.
Arthur W. Schnabel '64
Leo E. Supina '51
Elinor Tilles '72
John W. Trumble '63
Jane (Griswold) Watts '46
Robert E. Zimmerman '49

FACULTY
Harold Seidman
Laura Wignall

The UConn Alumni Association is pleased to announce that it will be awarding scholarships to students who are considered UConn "Legacies."

-- An applicant's grandparent, parent or sibling must be a UConn alum and a current dues paying member of the UConn Alumni Association.

Visit www.uconnalumni.com to complete the online application and view the list of eligibility requirements and criteria. Please direct all questions to Kristi A. Napolitano '94, '01 toll free at (888) UC-ALUM-1 or by email, Kristi.napolitano@uconn.edu

The latest Gallup Poll results

How successful have you been since receiving your master's degree in political science at UConn? Would you say you've been (a) very successful, (b) somewhat successful, or (c) not particularly successful?

For Lydia Saad '97 M.A., senior editor at the Gallup Organization in Princeton, N.J.--one of the world's oldest and most widely recognized public opinion surveys firms--the answer is an unqualified (a).

Saad has produced, written and interpreted hundreds of opinion polls, and has written dozens of essays on polling, public opinion and politics.

Her introduction to Gallup was through a temporary assignment working on 1992 presidential election surveys where she "learned the ropes." Quickly establishing her credentials as a skilled research analyst, Saad was offered a permanent post at Gallup and, by 1995, had been promoted to managing editor, one of three editors responsible for producing the Gallup Poll and a host of other surveys.

After returning from maternity leave in 2000, Saad assumed the position of senior editor where she is now responsible for producing the Gallup Poll Social Series--a trend-based survey "on subjects we cover in depth, such as what people think of the economy, health care, or foreign policy."

Prior to working at Gallup, Saad worked as a research assistant at the State Capitol in Hartford, Conn., and for John Rowland's first campaign for governor. During that time, she also pursued a master's degree in political science at UConn.

Saad had searched for a "practical program" that could promote her career, explaining that UConn's political science department--and its connection to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research--offered exactly the program she desired.

"I learned a great deal at UConn," she notes. "How to draft objective surveys, select a random sample, and analyze and interpret results. I had the wonderful opportunity to work closely with Everett Ladd, who was then head of the Roper Center. His idealism was contagious. He believed that polling is a vital part of the democratic process. That very same philosophy is shared by the people at Gallup.

"Today, there are many schools that focus on public opinion studies, but the University of Connecticut," she adds, "is considered one of the best in the field."
-- John Surowiecki